Sri Lanka could accept international actors in war crimes probe
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said on Thursday he is willing to consider international participation in investigating possible war crimes during the 26-year Tamil insurgency.
“I think it is only fair that the victims of the war would want some form of guarantee that the new courts will deliver justice and accountability in a fair manner, and for that we are willing to consider the participation of international actors,” Mangala Samaraweera, the minister, said at a Washington think tank.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has previously said that foreign participation was not needed for an impartial inquiry.
The foreign minister’s comments come after the United Nations said earlier this month that it would not force Sri Lanka to accept a role for international judges, but any process must be impartial and independent.
The United Nations says the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE were both likely to have committed war crimes during the war, which ended with a military victory in 2009.
A U.N. resolution calls for all alleged war crimes to be investigated and tried in special courts by international judges.
“They could be judges, they could be forensic experts, investigators, prosecutors, all these options are being looked at,” Samaraweera said.
Many Sri Lankans oppose foreign involvement, and supporters of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa believe the U.N. resolution aims to punish the military unfairly.
Samaraweera said the “contours and the architecture” of the court would be worked on in the next five or six months, after consulting with parties including the Tamil National Alliance.
He said that while the judiciary was on the right track, it had been politicized over the years.
Samaraweera met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday and is expected to take part in a strategic dialogue between the two countries later this week, Reuters reports.
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Looks like Smantha has kicked or squeezed somewhere really painful!
Mangala, I congratulate you and the yahalpalanaya on the brave and just move in inviting international investigators. You have nothing to fear as our soldiers went to war with the UN HR charter in one hand and the gun in the other. Also there were no civilian casualities. I wont be be surprised if the supremist worm Manjula calls me a traitor/a tamil pretending to be a sinhalese over my above comment. As explained to a her earlier I am a student of Vickramabahu Karunaratne who also taught me how to lead a decent life by shedding any supremist feelings.
UN is saying that they are not forcing SL to get the services of foreign judges & prosecutes. HE Sirisena categorically stated that there is no need for foreign judges. Now our Foreign Minister saying some thing else. This clearly shows the present government in SL doesn’t speak in ‘one voice’ and they are not in the same page. This is alarming.
Indra, you said Samantha must have kicked or squeezed something. I don’t think so. Because there is nothing-at-all to squeeze or kicked at.
Mr. Udurawana, I am sure you are having “Munjula Phobia’ and may be you can consult your guru VK for advice. Yes, Mr. Udurawana you are right to say that our gallant solders went to war gun in one and and UNHCR charter in one hand. So did all that went into wars fought in West Bang (OPT), Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmeer and elsewhere.